Zinc-smelting furnace.



J. W. & H. HEGELER.

|.. s. HEGELER. EXECUTRIX or H. HEGELER, DEC'D.

ZINC 'SMELTING FURNACE.

v I APPLICATON FILED NOV. 17. I913- May UNITED srAr s r nrENT OFFICE. j

JULIUS W. HEGELEB, OF DANVILLE, AND HERI IAN HEGELER, DECEASED, LATE'OF' DANVILLE, ILLINOIS, BY LOUISE S. HEGELER, EXECU'TRIX, ASSIGNOBSTO THE HEGELEB ZINC COEPANY, F DANVILLE, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OFILLINOIS.

zmc-smnrrme summon.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 22, 1917.

, Application filed Novcm'bcrlL-IOIB. Serial-No. 801,388.

which' our invention has particular re fer-'- ence, the retorts aremounted or arranged inrows or series in long combustion chambers,usually built in pairs separated by a permanent center wall of fire clayor similar refractory material, the inner ends of-the retorts restingupon and being supported by suitable ledges orbrackets formed on saidcenter wall and their outer" ends upon bars which extend between and aresecured to upright, standards or columns usually and preferably made ofcast iron, arranged in pairs on opposite sides of the furnace and theupper ends of which are connected by tie ro s provided with suitablead'usting nuts, whereby the spaces between t e uprightstandards orcolumns connected thereby, respectively, may be adjusted.

In use, the lateral sides of thefurnace are adapted to be closed byrelatively thin temporary walls of fire clay-or similar refractorymaterial, which is designed to be broken awayand replaced as often as itis desired or necesary to replace said retorts, the upright standards orcolumns forming a framework to support the top of the furnacefone end ofsaid retorts' and the temporary walls.

The top of the furnace is closed by means "of a'suitable roof made offire clay or similar refractory material, and usually archedtransversely of the furnace, the outer ends of which rest against rigidabutmen'ts on the framework formed by the upright standards, an'dtheinner ends of which are connected by skew backs; either formed on, orwhiclirest upon the centerwall of the furnace.

It is found in practice that the permanent of Vermilion and center wallof the furnace expands when first heated and then shrinks, suchshrinkage causing a lowering of said center wall of from fifteen totwenty inches.

Owing to this shrinkage of the center is objectionable for the reasonthat, if the roof is sufficiently strong sothat it does not heat andproducts of combustion will pass without coming into contact with theretorts, thus very greatly reducing the efficiency of the furnace or, ifthe roof is not sufiiclently strong to carry its own weight when thesupport of the center wall is removed by the contraction thereof, saidroof will settle with said wall, thereby causing the roof to bulge andcrack and may even result in the breaking down of the roof, thus puttingthe furnace'out of business.

The object of the present invention is to overcome the fore oingobjectionable features in furnaceso this kind by providing a roofconstruction which will 'be free to settle with the center will of thedevice without subjecting said roof to any additional strains, and whichwill operate to maintain'a space of uniform and desired size at the topof-the furnace above the retorts.

To accomplish this object, a furnace of our mvention comprlses thevarlous features and details of construction hereinafter described andclaimed. t

the accompanying drawing, in which our invention is fully illustratedFigure'l is a transverse, vertical sectional view of a smelting furnacehaving a roof. .embodymg our invent on; and

Y the temporary side walls of the furnace, and

A the retorts mounted in said furnace. All of the foregoing parts areold and well wall, the roof constructionabove described known in the artand will be readily understood by persons familiar with the art withouta detailed description thereof. Said parts may be of any desired orapproved. construction. 7

As shown in Fig. 1, the roof of the furnace consists of plates orsections. 1, preferably made. of fire clay or other similar refractorymaterial, the outer ends of which' are supported on bars 2 which extendtransversely between andare supported by the upright standards orcolumns A, and the inner ends of which rest on the top of the centerwall A, theupper lateral corners of said wall being preferably slightlybeveled, as shown at 3, the angle of said bevel being such that,as firstinstalled, the under sides of the plates or sections 1 will lie flatagainst the same, thus providing a fiatbearing for the innerv ends ofsaid roof plates. As shown, the supporting bars'2 for said roof platesare. made substantially in the form ofvinverted T-bars, the outer endsof said roof plates resting in the inner angle thereof.

Said roof plates or sections 1 are made of such length that they willextend across the top of the furnace between the bars 2'and the wall Aandwill overlap said wall a desired distance, and are of such size andshape in cross-section as will impart necessary strength thereto. Inpractice, we have used roof plates of this character approximately fivefeet long,- twelve inches thick and six inches wide, and have found thatthey were sufficiently strong. a

.Said roof plates or sections 1 are also preferably made of such lengthsrelatively 'to the width of the furnace that when the furnace is firsterected, the inner or adja-- cent ends of said roof plates will beseparated from each other, but .will approach each-other as they settle,due to the shrinkage of the'ce'nter wall from. the heat, until,

at their points of closest'approach, they will be separated only by ashort distance, thus insuring against disengagement of the outer. endsof said roof plates with the bars 2, due to inward endwise movement ofsaid plates or sections.- In said Fig. 1 of the drawings, the positionof theiparts, as originally erected and before the shrinkage of thecenter wall by the heat has taken place, is shown in full lines, whilethe positions thereof after shrinka e of said center wall is shown indotted lines. It willbe noted that, with the roof constructiondescribed, a space of substantially uniform size will always be main-'tained between the upper retorts' and the roof, regardless of theshrinkage of the center wall, and also that shrinkage of said roof}plates or sections relatively to said wall A.

Instead of roof plates formed from a single integral piece of materialsuch as shown in Fig 1, we contemplate forming said roof plates from aplurality of blocks or tiles made from fireclay or similar refractorymaterial; said blocks being shaped to form a transverse arch and beingsecured together by means of a suitable clamp.

Referring now particularly to Fig. 2, in which this modification isshown, A designates the center wall of the'furnace, A the uprightstandards or columns forming the framework for the outer walls of thefurnace, a the tie rods connecting the upper ends of said standards orcolumns, A the temporary side walls of-the furnace, and. A the retortssupported within the furnace. The roof'of the furnace consists of aplurality of roof sections vA", each consisting of a plurality of blocks10 secured together to form an arch by means of a suitable clamp,consisting, as shown, of two mem bers 11 and 12 hinged together at 13,the free ends of which are adapted to. be drawn together into strongengagement with the outer sides of thefend blocks 10 of each roofsection A by means of a tie rod 13, which connect said rods and areprovided with ad- 5 justing nuts threaded to the ends thereof outside ofsaid clamping members for forcing or drawing them together;

When in position, the inner ends of the roof sections A rest freel onthe center wall A of the furnace, thelr outer ends being supported bymeansof bars 14 secured to and which extend between the uprightstandards or columns A-said bars being preferably provided on theirinner sides with grooves 15 which are engaged by corresponding ribs 16formed on the outer sides of the outer clamping member 11, thusproviding a pivotal support'about which said roof sections may turn asthe inner endsv entire wall-A of the furnace.

It will be understood, however, that our invention contemplates the useof any desired or approved form of clamping means.

We claim 1.- A roof for asmelting furnace of the type comprising walls,one having a framework which is practically non-contractible' by heat,and the other of which contracts ex cessively and permanently underheat, said roof comprising sections supported by the framework of saidnon-contractible wall and by said contractible wall and having tiltingengagement with one thereof and sliding engagement with the other,substantially as described, I

2. A roof for a smelting furnace of the type comprising walls, onehaving a framework which is practically non-contractible by heat, andthe other of which contracts excessively and permanently under heat,said roof comprism sections supported by the framework of saldnon-contractible wall and by said contractible wall, and having andtransverse metal bars supported by and g which extend between saidsupports, and a wall made of fire clay which contracts excessively andpermanently under heat, said roof comprising sections supportedbytransverse members of said framework and by said fire clay wall, andhaving sliding engement with said fire clay wall, substantlally asdescribed.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set-our hands in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses, this 10th day of November, A; D. 1913.

JULIUS W. HEGELER. LOUISE S. HEGELER, Exec-atria: of the Zaat will andtestament of Herman H egeler, deceased.

Witn:

F. R. Bmxmen, W. O. BRYDEN.

